


whisper game

by Dresupi



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Darcy Lewis, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Crimes & Criminals, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Established Relationship, F/M, Murder, POV Multiple, Rating May Change, Reporter Darcy Lewis, Serial Killers, Swearing, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-12 07:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15334590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Darcy Lewis is a freelance reporter for the Daily Bugle's online presence.  She thinks she might have stumbled upon a string of serial murders, which is mega creepy, but it's kind of okay because her boyfriend is amazing and works for the FBI.AKA'I'm not dying for a freelance reporting job.'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KatieHavok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieHavok/gifts).



> Um yeah. So this started out as a teeny little short I was writing for my 1970s song prompts. (Song is Barracuda by Heart, prompted by the wonderful Katiehavok). 
> 
> It is now a multichapter casefic. So... you're welcome. 
> 
> This is my first time writing this kind of thing, so hopefully I do alright...
> 
> Also, I have most of this written, so there is a buffer. YAY!

**Darcy**

Darcy groaned loudly, smacking the side of her laptop monitor. “Come on, Betsy…” she muttered under her breath, sighing in relief as it unfroze and saved her progress.

“Thank Thor,” she exhaled. She did  _ not _ want to have to try and rewrite that article from scratch.

She proofread again quickly, just once more before copying the entire thing and pasting it in an email to Spencer.

It wasn’t the normal kind of thing that a girlfriend sent to her boyfriend, but then again, she and Spencer weren’t really the normal kind of couple. But, when your boyfriend was a member of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and there was a rash of murders happening in your neighborhood, well…

She was just really, really hoping he could pass it on to Agent Hotchner and get the team down here yesterday.

Well, time travel wasn’t  _ exactly _ possible, but with that private jet they had, maybe it wouldn’t be too long of a wait. 

This was the third woman gutted and stabbed to death in Manhattan in nearly three months.  Darcy wasn’t any kind of crime specialist, but good grief, Stabby Brown.

All the women had brown hair, were short and curvy… basically they could have been Darcy. That’s not what had initially what had peaked her interest in the murders as potential article material, but it had certainly helped once she’d gotten started. She’d bid on the first murder on a whim, hoping to get out of writing top ten lists and fluff pieces on The Bugle dot net. And when the second murder happened, well… she had to cover that one too, no one else could give it as much as she did.  And by now… she was kind of obsessed. Only kind of, though. 

She got a response back almost immediately from Spencer.   _ “Taking this to Hotch now, I’ll call you when I know something. Xo” _

She couldn't help but smile, even given the subject matter. The email seemed completely perfunctory, but the little ‘xo’ at the bottom made her melt.  

She was absolutely head over heels for her beautiful genius. They’d met when she’d been living in DC while Jane was lecturing at American University two years before. The flat SHIELD had given her and Janey to temporarily live in had conveniently been two blocks from Spencer’s favorite coffee place. 

And it was a good thing too, because Dr. Reid was a creature of habit. 

It was thrilling that his habits now included her. 

It had been a few minutes now, so she checked her phone on the desk beside the laptop. It was on and mostly charged.  Spencer could definitely call and/or text her if he was away from his computer. Good.

Long distance relationships sucked. But the suckiest thing of all was not knowing when you’d see each other again.

So, to circumvent that, She and Spencer had come up with a system. It was simple. They were just  _ always _ accessible to each other. If that meant email, text, phone calls, or whatever, they were always available to talk to one another.

Neither of them ever took advantage of that fact, but it had come in handy before. Even if she did have to answer her phone in the shower, and sometimes he had to call her while he was on a case, it kept them both from worrying about the other. 

And yeah, Spencer had the more dangerous job, but living in NYC itself was becoming something of a hazard nowadays. If it wasn’t aliens destroying midtown or hulks destroying Harlem, it was a motherfucking criminal network trying to destroy literally everything. 

Which was why their system made sense. They were always available to each other.  Peace of mind was a good thing.

Her phone rang a few seconds later and she picked it up immediately, accepting the call. “Hey Spencer.”

“Hey Darcy… listen, we’re going to be flying up to New York within the hour, can you possibly meet me at the airport?”  

She sighed in relief.  “Thanks babe. And totally. What time are you coming in?” 

“In time for dinner? Hopefully? If you’re hungry, that is.”

“Babe, you know I always am.”

She drummed her fingers on the table for a moment before taking the time to shut down her laptop.  It might mean a thirty minute start up in the morning, but she hadn’t turned it off in a couple of days.  Betsy was probably tired, anyway. Plus, if Spencer was in town, it wasn’t like she’d be doing anything but hanging out with him, anyway.

She smiled widely. “So, do you need a place to stay?”

“Only if you don’t mind having a house guest…”

“ _ Spencer… _ ” she said, the smile all but audible in her voice.  “Would you like to stay here with me?”

“Absolutely,” he replied, laughing a little.  “I’ll see you in a few hours, okay? I’ll email you our flight details.”

Which she would have to access on her phone, because once she’d clicked ‘shut down’ on her laptop, it was kind of it for at least an hour. And if they were leaving soon, they’d probably be landing before she could access the email there.

Come to think of it, Betsy also probably needed some work, considering the problems she’d been having with freezing lately.  Maybe a few upgrades were in order after Darcy got paid for this story.

“Thanks, babe. See you soon.”  

“ _ Very _ soon,” he reiterated before ending the call.  

Oh yeah.  That was something else they did.  Or didn’t do, rather. 

They didn’t say goodbye. 

* * *

She waited around her place long enough to change into a really cute blue top she’d just bought and to close her laptop after Betsy had finished shutting down.  It took almost twenty minutes for that to happen, so yeah, Darcy was definitely getting something replaced after she got paid for this article.

She grabbed her purse and left the apartment, taking the time to lock the deadbolt before she left.

Traffic wasn’t too horrible, but it still took her a little while to get to the airport. Lucky for her, she was notoriously early to things, so she actually ended up getting there just in time.

Spencer’s flight came in just when his email said it would, and Darcy was waiting there for him when it arrived. Just like  _ she _ said she would. 

Darcy managed a couple of quick hellos to the other members of the team before Spencer steered her off in the direction of the exit. “How  _ did _ you get the evening off?” she asked suddenly, turning to face him. “I mean, isn’t this a  _ case _ ?”  

He shrugged. “I didn’t? I’m supposed to go directly to the police station…” His mouth quirked a little.  “But you know how confusing New York is. I’ll probably get lost.” 

“It’s a grid system… and isn’t this something you’re--” Darcy said slowly before realization dawned on her. “ _ Oh _ … Is that why you steered me out of here so quickly and wouldn’t let me say hi to Em and JJ?”

That quirk quickly turned into a full on grin. “Nobody better to get lost with for quote ‘no more than an hour and a half’ or Rossi will stop covering for me.”

“Remind me to bake that man a pie,” Darcy quipped.

“Noted,” Spencer replied.

“So, you only have an hour… quick service it is” she said, tugging him in the direction of an empty cab.  

* * *

Dinner was over too quickly. She’d ended up taking up her burger to go because she had so many things she wanted to say and do… And holding hands with a boyfriend she hardly ever got to see was way more fun than eating her food while it was hot. She got to do that all the time. She barely got to see Spencer.

But it was soon over and he was pressing a soft kiss to her lips and hopping in a cab to the police station.

The kiss was lingering. Longer than their kisses usually were, but they also hadn’t ever gone this long without a face to face.

She wondered if she could convince him to stay behind for a few days after the case was over...

Darcy made her way home, dropping her keys in the bowl by the door.  She was whistling, something she rarely ever did. 

She hung her purse on the chair and sat down to open up her laptop, remembering belatedly that she’d turned it off before she’d gone. 

She got up again after opening it, about to reach for the power button when the screen suddenly lit up, asking for her login information.

She frowned.  She’d never had to log in before.  And hadn’t she turned this off before she’d gone?

She typed in her password and login information. And it opened.  

_ Kind of _ .

None of her programs were there.  None of her software. Not even her word processor. Nothing.

None of her bookmarks.

No shortcuts.

She wasn’t even signed into Chrome.

Actually, she wasn’t signed into  _ any  _ of her sites any longer.  

Something had come along and completely wiped her computer.  _ Everything _ was gone.

“Fuck me….” she muttered, reaching for her phone.  

She hated calling Spencer while he was working, but dammit, this felt important enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry for the long spance between updates. I had this written, but I've been fiddling with it because I wasn't happy with the beginning. 
> 
> Still not REALLY happy with the beginning, but I wanted to post it, so here it is. <3 
> 
> Also, disclaimer, all my knowledge of hacking is second-hand, so kind of squint and go with it. I'm not writing a handbook here. ;)

**Spencer**

* * *

 

Spencer’s phone buzzed on his hip, breaking the long silence between Hotch and the detective.

Everyone in the room glanced over at him.

He tried, discreetly, to glance down at his phone. His heart jolted a little, just like it always did when he saw Darcy’s name appear. He felt his face redden slightly and coughed, silencing the phone and resolving to call her back as soon as he could.

“My apologies,” he muttered, pressing his lips together as he bounced impatiently on his toes. The silence was broken, but no one appeared to be willing to ask the next question. “So each victim was gutted, you say?”

“Yeah… gutted,” Detective Helton replied warily. “From neck to groin. Like a fish.”

There was a collective gulp as they all glanced up at the murder scene photos. Spencer cleared his throat once more as he asked the thing nobody seemed to want to ask. “Did the unsub remove anything?”

Helton narrowed his eyes at him, glaring in a way that was intended to be off-putting. But Spencer was used to it. His brazenly clinical tone usually put people off. But he didn’t know how to stop, so he just went with it. “How did you know?” the detective asked.

Spencer shrugged noncommittally. “The number of stabs indicate a frenzied overkill, but the cuts to the torso and abdomen seem deliberate. Like the unsub is looking for something in particular.”

“Yeah, well… the perp takes something different every time. Heart from the first.”

Detective Helton tapped on the first photo.

“Left lung from the second...”

He tapped on the second.

“Right lung from the third...”

Another tap to the third.

“Broke through the sternum and ribcage on all three. We’re looking at someone with  _ significant _ upper body strength.”

Spencer squinted at the photos of each victim. “Or access to tools.”

“The first murder happened a month ago?” Emily asked, gesturing to the top left photo on the board.  “And then the last two were only a week apart?”

"That's correct," Helton confirmed.

“He’s escalating,” Hotch said bluntly. “We should really get started here… Reid, you and Rossi go talk to the victims’ families. Morgan and JJ go to the murder scene. Prentiss and I will set up base here... “ Spencer didn’t really hear the rest of what Hotch was saying, because he was already facing the opposite direction, walking with Emily towards the cluster of empty desks, but it didn’t matter, he had his orders.

Spencer followed Rossi, attempting to nonchalantly pull out his phone on the way out of the precinct. There was a vehicle outside waiting for their use. David was twirling the keys around his finger.

“You didn’t get enough of a booty call before?” Rossi asked, clearly joking.

Normally, a question like that would get a flustered response from him, but Spencer knew something was up if Darcy was calling him at work. “No, we had dinner… but she knows I’m here and what I’m doing, so it’s probably important. Do you mind if I--?”

“Be my guest,” Rossi replied, eying him sideways as he took the driver’s side of the car. Spencer ducked into the passenger’s.

Calling was quicker than texting, even if Rossi  _ was _ right beside him. Darcy answered on the second ring.

“ _ Spencer _ .”  She sounded out of breath. Like she was exerting herself. Running, perhaps?  Why was she running? At the gym? “I’m so sorry to bother you, babe. I know you’re working, but.. But…”

Her voice was shaking. Not from over-exertion then. She was scared. Rattled.  Possibly even a little angry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.

“My laptop,” she said.  “It’s wiped.”

His stomach settled. It was anger, then. She lost all her work. The latest article.

“I have your article in that email you sent me,” he started, but she cut him off.

“No, like… that’s not the issue, all my stuff is backed up on the cloud so that’s irrelevant. The thing is that my laptop is empty. Someone  _ wiped _ it. Like, deliberately.”

Panic gripped him once more. “You’re certain?”

“ _ Spencer _ . My computer was  _ off _ . I remember consciously turning it off before I left to meet you.  I watched it shut down. I know, because I closed the screen after and I like…  _ never _ close the screen unless I’m sure it’s off... And then, I came back here after dinner, and it’s turned  _ on _ and my entire computer is wiped. All it has is my login info. Everything else is gone. It’s  _ completely _ empty.”

He frowned. That  _ was _ suspicious, even for Darcy’s dinosaur of a laptop--her words, not his. “I’ll call Garcia, maybe she can take a look remotely in between finding information for the case.”

Darcy instantly sighed with relief. “ _ Thank you _ for believing me.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” he asked, a lilt in his voice. “I’ve got no reason not to.”

“Still. Thank you, Spencer.”

“No problem.  I’ll talk to you soon,” he said softly.

“Kisses.”

He glanced over at Rossi, who was smirking in the driver’s seat. “Same to you, Darce,” Spencer replied.

“Ah, is someone in the car with you? So I get no kisses?”

“Rossi.”

“Well. Kisses for  _ him _ , then.”

Spencer huffed out a sound akin to laughter, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly before he ended the call.

“Something funny?” Rossi asked.

“Darcy sends kisses,” Spencer replied, his face completely devoid of emotion as he brought up Garcia’s contact information.

“Tell her to send more of those chocolate chip cookies if she’s sending anything,” David quipped, making a sharp right-hand turn onto a side street.

Spencer pressed the call button, waiting for Garcia to pick up.

“Doctor, doctor, give me the news,” Penelope sing-songed.

“Hey… Garcia? If I give you Darcy’s number, will you call her?” Spencer asked.

“Is this work related or personal?” she asked.

“Case related, I think…” he replied, holding up his hand to stop Rossi’s inevitable questions for just a moment while he spoke with Garcia. “Something happened to her laptop, I figured I’d pass that directly on to you…”

“I will call her in two jiffies, Boy Genius.”

“Thanks, Garcia.”  He ended the call and glanced over at Rossi. “Her hard drive was wiped when she got home from dinner,” he explained simply.

“Think it’s our unsub’s handiwork? Trying to silence her? Keep her from reporting on the murders?”

“If it is, it’s an odd choice,” Spencer said doubtfully.

“You’re telling me, everything’s on the cloud nowadays, what could wiping her physical hard drive possibly accomplish?” Rossi asked. “She can get the articles back in seconds.”

“Unless it’s a warning,” Spencer offered, a frown settling in his brow as he pondered the sequence of events. “I see you, I know what you’re doing…”

“You brought in the FBI, back off or else?” Rossi continued.

“Something like that…” Spencer said slowly, chewing on his bottom lip.

* * *

**Darcy**

* * *

 

Penelope called moments later, greeting her cheerfully. “What’s new, Pussycat?”

“Wow, You guys  _ are _ fast…” Darcy said, laughing softly as her leg bounced. “Spencer wasn’t kidding.”

“He said you might have pertinent information for me regarding the case? If so, gimme gimme, I’m very hungry.”

“Yeah.  My laptop was hacked. Wiped. I don’t know that it’s case-adjacent, but if Spencer thinks--”

“See, that’s the thing about Spencer… he thinks a  _ lot…  _ Super sorry for your digital loss, beeteedubs,”  Penelope lamented, keystrokes audible in the background. “Gimme your deets, girlfriend, I’ll see what’s up.”

Darcy rattled off her IP address as well as a few other identifying features of her laptop and watched as Penelope remotely accessed everything.

“Okay, so right off the bat, I can tell you this unsub’s no  _ me _ ,” Penelope said slowly.

“What makes you say that?” Darcy asked, feeling her forehead begin to furrow.

“This is totally bush-league. It’s a simple swipe and wipe. I can actually restore your hard drive from here, if you’ll give me a second.”

“I’ll give you ten.”

“ _ So _ generous, no wonder Spencer loves you…” Penelope said offhandedly, quickly restoring Darcy’s laptop. “Oh geez, please tell me I didn’t out his feelings before he got a chance to tell you himself?”

Darcy laughed. “No, no. We’ve said it.”

“Awww, you guys… so freaking adorkable.“ Penelope hit enter with a flourish. “You are up and running, Sweet Pea.”

“Thanks so much!” Darcy gushed, clicking around on her laptop. “I went to turn it on when I came home and it was just…  _ nothing _ , I thought maybe I’d somehow factory reset the thing when I shut it down earlier, or you know--”

“Wait a minute,” Penelope said quickly.  “It was shut down? You’re certain?”

“Yeah. I hadn’t turned it off for like… two weeks, so I shut it down before I went to dinner with Spencer.  Is that important?”

“Baby, you can’t hack a computer that’s been turned off,” Penelope said slowly.  “You can’t hack it unless it’s on. You can’t turn a computer on remotely, especially not a fossil like yours. No offense, but you have to push the power button with a physical finger.”

“Okay…” Darcy said slowly, trying to understand. “So in order to do what they did… someone had to turn it on.”

“Yep.”

“So someone was here in my apartment.” Darcy’s eyes flitted around the room, every shadow could be an intruder. Every noise. 

Was anything else touched?  Out of place? She couldn’t force her eyes to focus on any one thing, it was all spinning.  Too fast. It was happening too quickly.

“In here?” she heard herself repeat, voice high and on edge.

Penelope paused for a moment before agreeing. Her voice was shaky, but slow and deliberately calm. “ _ Yes _ . And I think… I think maybe you shouldn’t be there alone, Darce. Maybe you should grab your bag and go down to the precinct where the other guys are.  I can call Spencer for you and--”

Darcy’s body suddenly sprang into action, even though her brain was still stuck on someone being  _ there _ . In her apartment. In her space. Someone had been  _ here _ .

She grabbed her purse, tucked the laptop under her arm and flew towards the door, half expecting someone to reach out and grab her before she got there.

No one did, though.

She even locked the front door behind her, which was something habitual that she always did, but now felt perfunctory and useless. She’d locked the door before too. And it hadn’t kept whoever it was  _ out _ of her place.

_ Oh fuck, what if it was the killer? _

“Darcy!  Darce! Are you still with me?” Penelope asked.  “I swear, I’m gonna call the cops if you don’t answer in five, four, three--”

“I’m here,” Darcy squeaked into the phone, making a left past the out-of-order elevator and stepping into the stairwell.  “Just coming downstairs.”

“Oh thank blob,” Penelope said, clearly relieved. “Look, sweetness, I’ll stay on the phone with you until you’re somewhere safe, okay?”

“Okay,” Darcy replied, her tone clipped and stiff. “Okay.”

She didn’t relax, not even a little, until she stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of her building.  It was a twenty-or-so minute walk to the police precinct, but she felt safer here out in the open than she had in her apartment building.

And that was saying something.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me some sugar if you liked it! xoxo


End file.
